Steve Jobs Ponders His Legacy In Never-Before-Seen 1994 Video

bacaramac said:

I wonder how many people in history have the logical insight that jobs had on technology. It's weird how you can watch a 20 year old clip and it still be relevant. This isn't the first clip where Jobs' statements have remained relevant years later.

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I think you'll find that almost every public interview Steve has given, there's a wealth of insight. I am not joking either. Everytime I listen to him, I seem to get an infusion of insight, logic, and common sense as it relates to technology. Steve knew where technology was going at every step in his life.

Some say he dictated technology, but that's foolish. You can't dictate something if nobody buys it and loves it like people love Apple products. That means Steve knew the recipe to make awesome computers and computing devices and he also envisioned how to make them inviting to use.

cualexander said:

Yeah, they are pretty insignificant. They are only the second largest information technology company in the world...That's not fanboyism, it's fact. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_information_technology_companies

Samsung beat them, but go ahead and try to get ANYONE on the street to tell you who founded Samsung. This is a pointless conversation because the facts stand behind me.

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And who was the second largest before them? And before them? The fanboyism is that you can't see someone will be second/first largest after them. That's the problem with fanboyism is that you can't see anything past being part of the "camp" that's "on top". I have the facts of history on my side and that's better than any pseudo 'facts' you bring up.

"Apple has sold 600,00 iOS devices, proof!" How many windows computer have been sold? Where are they at now? Downward trend. Circuit city, Best Buy, Sears, IBM, Nintendo, Dell, HP, being at the top doesn't guarantee you anything in the long run. In fact some would say being on top is the cause of a lot of falls.

There's always One More Thing.....

TMar said:

And who was the second largest before them? And before them? The fanboyism is that you can't see someone will be second/first largest after them. That's the problem with fanboyism is that you can't see anything past being part of the "camp" that's "on top". I have the facts of history on my side and that's better than any pseudo 'facts' you bring up.

"Apple has sold 600,00 iOS devices, proof!" How many windows computer have been sold? Where are they at now? Downward trend. Circuit city, Best Buy, Sears, IBM, Nintendo, Dell, HP, being at the top doesn't guarantee you anything in the long run. In fact some would say being on top is the cause of a lot of falls.

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You still don't get it. Even non-tech people know who Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are. It doesn't matter if they go to the bottom of the list tomorrow, their impact on the world, not just the tech industry will live on, which is contrary to the view Steve had of himself in 1994. Steve has 313 patents to his name. Do you know of Alexander Graham Bell? Do you still use his original phone?

This is front page worthy.

Please stop reading just the parts you want to read. Either take my posts in context or stop typing.

cualexander said:

You still don't get it. Even non-tech people know who Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are. It doesn't matter if they go to the bottom of the list tomorrow, their impact on the world, not just the tech industry will live on, which is contrary to the view Steve had of himself in 1994. Steve has 313 patents to his name. Do you know of Alexander Graham Bell? Do you still use his original phone?

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TMar said:

As did I but if you were to ask a large group of people to give you even one spec off it MOST would not know even that. It's our generation where most people might know it but my much older or younger cousins probably don't. That was kinda his point from the clip was that technology doesn't age gracefully. There's not going to be a museum of technology that MOST people are going to want to travel to see.

When everyone is dead and gone that was alive when the iphone launched, the remaining people are not going to be that interested in it. He will be remember for this contribution, his contributions will not be remember because they don't stand the test of time, that was his point.

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It wasn't the view of himself that he questioned but how his works compared to others over time. He also wasn't questioning how his contributions would be viewed, he knew that. What he questioned was something more physical, tangible. Nothing you make in technology stands the time the same way a painting, sculpture or architecture does. He knew anything he produced would be landfill in years.

PS Please get your thoughts in order, you're all over the place.

This has to be a record time for a thread devolving into a cheap argument.

Drunken Master said:

This has to be a record time for a thread devolving into a cheap argument.

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Almost 4 hours is a record? That's silly.

Jaredly said:

Jobs would be happy to know that the apple 1 is considered a piece of art and that somebody bought it for some obnoxious price (I forgot the exact amount).

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No, he wouldn't. When he was alive, he sought to dismiss the history of Apple, even the parts he was instrumental in. He did barely anything to acknowledge the 20th anniversary of the original Macintosh, a machine that he was absolutely fanatical in the design of. The Apple 1 even less so - as it wasn't even "his" design - it was Woz's. The Macintosh is the machine that was most directly Jobs', and once it was obsolete, he never looked back. And that's exactly what he was saying in this. He was saying that his work *SHOULDN'T* be considered art, long-term. It should be considered "insanely great" in its time, then discarded when its time has passed.

TMar said:

No it will not. Not outside the extremest Apple fan base. People in 30 years aren't going to look back with fawn memories of the original iphone. Old technology is lost on all the the geekiest of people.

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And who appreciates old art but art geeks? And where do you find that old art? In museums, which wasn't the place where it was originally created to be seen.

Steve was also a little off in his analogy to great architecture. Most of the ancient architecture we assume today was always appreciated went through long periods when it was neglected at best, and more likely seen as hopelessly outdated and obsolete. That's why so much of it has been destroyed.

Technology may have certain problems associated with its longterm appreciation, but to assume that nobody will ever care about old tech after it has outlived its functional life is probably incorrect.

TMar said:

Please stop reading just the parts you want to read. Either take my posts in context or stop typing.





It wasn't the view of himself that he questioned but how his works compared to others over time. He also wasn't questioning how his contributions would be viewed, he knew that. What he questioned was something more physical, tangible. Nothing you make in technology stands the time the same way a painting, sculpture or architecture does. He knew anything he produced would be landfill in years.

PS Please get your thoughts in order, you're all over the place.

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I responded to that point. The smithsonian has a collection of his physical works in their archives. He said "No one will see your sediment." The original iPhone will still be seen. Look in any history museum, and you'll see record players, old radios, old TVs, etc. They are obsolete and I never have owned an old black and white television from the 50s, but I've seen them in museums. The same thing will be true of the iPhone and iPod and the Mac, which was one of the first personal computers ever released. Those devices were milestones in history. No one will care about the Galaxy S3 in 30 years, because it was just another smartphone, but the iPhone was the original multi-touch smartphone. He changed the mobile and music industries forever.

Anonymous Freak said:

No, he wouldn't. When he was alive, he sought to dismiss the history of Apple, even the parts he was instrumental in. He did barely anything to acknowledge the 20th anniversary of the original Macintosh, a machine that he was absolutely fanatical in the design of. The Apple 1 even less so - as it wasn't even "his" design - it was Woz's. The Macintosh is the machine that was most directly Jobs', and once it was obsolete, he never looked back. And that's exactly what he was saying in this. He was saying that his work *SHOULDN'T* be considered art, long-term. It should be considered "insanely great" in its time, then discarded when its time has passed.

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OMG get your logical thoughts out of here. There's no place for 2 of us. How dare you watch the clip and take it all in context and read no more into than what he said!

Arfdog said:

I think you'll find that almost every public interview Steve has given, there's a wealth of insight. I am not joking either. Everytime I listen to him, I seem to get an infusion of insight, logic, and common sense as it relates to technology. Steve knew where technology was going at every step in his life.

Some say he dictated technology, but that's foolish. You can't dictate something if nobody buys it and loves it like people love Apple products. That means Steve knew the recipe to make awesome computers and computing devices and he also envisioned how to make them inviting to use.

Click to expand...

Steve had a great talent for communicating his own point of view in a seductive and persuasive manner. Much of his success can be attributed to that talent. Whether he is communicating true insights while he has you mesmerized is not necessarily the same thing. It's worth keeping in mind that a card trick is still a card trick, even if it looks like real magic.

IJ Reilly said:

And who appreciates old art but art geeks? And where do you find that old art? In museums, which wasn't the place where it was originally created to be seen.

Steve was also a little off in his analogy to great architecture. Most of the ancient architecture we assume today was always appreciated went through long periods when it was neglected at best, and more likely seen as hopelessly outdated and obsolete. That's why so much of it has been destroyed.

Technology may have certain problems associated with its longterm appreciation, but to assume that nobody will ever care about old tech after it has outlived its functional life is probably incorrect.

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Where did I say nobody? Old art is only in museums? Architecture, if it lasted the test of time in spite of neglect.... Again he's talking about functionality and usability of them later comparable to tech of the current time.

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cualexander said:

I responded to that point. The smithsonian has a collection of his physical works in their archives. He said "No one will see your sediment." The original iPhone will still be seen. Look in any history museum, and you'll see record players, old radios, old TVs, etc. They are obsolete and I never have owned an old black and white television from the 50s, but I've seen them in museums. The same thing will be true of the iPhone and iPod and the Mac, which was one of the first personal computers ever released. Those devices were milestones in history. No one will care about the Galaxy S3 in 30 years, because it was just another smartphone, but the iPhone was the original multi-touch smartphone. He changed the mobile and music industries forever.

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"And appreciated by that rare geologist" and taking things out of context to fit your argument.

TMar said:

No it will not. Not outside the extremest Apple fan base. People in 30 years aren't going to look back with fawn memories of the original iphone. Old technology is lost on all the the geekiest of people.

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you are so off base, how can you be on these forums and hold this opinion is beyond me. visionary he was, and visionary you are not...

darbus69 said:

you are so off base, how can you be on these forums and hold this opinion is beyond me. visionary he was, and visionary you are not...

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And how can you be that dense to not read the whole thread. How some of you believe that SJ's is himself, Apple, Mac's, iOS devices at the same time and have the inability the separate all them is beyond me.

TMar said:

Where did I say nobody? Old art is only in museums? Architecture, if it lasted the test of time in spite of neglect.... Again he's talking about functionality and usability of them later comparable to tech of the current time.

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"And appreciated by that rare geologist" and taking things out of context to fit your argument.

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And the "rare geologist" in this case is the majority of the first world. Listen, I understand what he is saying, and I fully agree with his analogy. I just don't think it applies to him specifically. That was my point.

What an absolutely spot-on analogy about the sedimentary rock layers.
Only a genius would come up with that!

TMar said:

Where did I say nobody? Old art is only in museums? Architecture, if it lasted the test of time in spite of neglect.... Again he's talking about functionality and usability of them later comparable to tech of the current time.

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I was responding to Steve's point, which I took to mean that when old tech is gone, it's just gone (buried under layers of rock is about as gone as it gets).

Where did you get only in museums? What I am saying is, the reference point for the art has changed. None of the great ancient art we see in museums today was created to be displayed in museums. As for architecture, survival has shockingly little to do with the quality of the original creation. Survival of buildings is almost aribitrary.

As I said, Steve was a master persuader. He wasn't necessarily right just because he sounds so convincing.

The "never seen before" part doesn't go for all of us. It also comes with a giggle in correlation with the biography cover, but I spare that one out of piety.

Also, most of it has been covered in the "The thing about Microsoft is that they have absolutely no taste" interview.

Jobs looked terrible there. Huge beard and looked a little fat. Sure his words were amazing as always. But his looks, well he could have done better then that (at the time)

I always think it's amazing how Steve still makes the news almost at least once a week in some way another. Just last week with the eBooks business for example. Incredible considering it's been around 18 months since he passed away.

Again separate his legacy from that of the technology. No analogy needed. The hardware is moot and unimportant. He wanted to be know for the the direction he pushed technology not a specific piece of hardware. Would you rather be know years later for a outdated piece of hardware or a shift in what mobile computing is? He wasn't diminishing himself but saying you're not going to be know for making a 'thing' if it's just another thing.

cualexander said:

And the "rare geologist" in this case is the majority of the first world. Listen, I understand what he is saying, and I fully agree with his analogy. I just don't think it applies to him specifically. That was my point.

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cualexander said:

I disagree. I think he's correct that most people in the tech industry won't be remembered, but love him or hate him, Steve Jobs has left a remarkable legacy for the world in general. The original Mac is almost 30 and people still remember it.

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I agree - people may remember and even use the descendants of the technology but quickly forget the people who created or popularized it. After all, how many people would recognize the names Sarnoff, Farnsworth, Watt, Marconi, or Eads?

cualexander said:

Interesting how he was incorrect though. In another 4 years, the original iPhone will be 10 years old, and while he was correct that it is not usable anymore, it will still go down in history as the phone that started the smartphone revolution. The same way the iPad revitalized the tablet market and the iPod revolutionized the portable music market.

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Still sporting my old iphone 1. Everything still works surprisingly well, though nobody makes apps for it anymore I'm excited to finally upgrade!

I will definitely be holding on to mine forever. Definitely a big step in the history of tech.